Method of bloating and annealing blocks of earthy material



' Oct. 11, 1932. o. w. STORY METHOD OF BLOATING AND' ANNEALING BLOCKS OFEARTHY MATERIAL Filed July 14, 1930 WWW. 56355 v i 6.55 /W ZWP/A@Patented net. 1932 I OLIVER W. STOREY, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB,BY NE lSIG'N taft"? TO .AMERICAN FACE BRICK RESEARCH CORPOBATON, ACORPORATION ILLOI METHOD *OJF BLOATING AN D ANNEALING BLOCKS OF ETEYM::.

Application filed July 14,

This invention relates to method of bloatin and annealing blocks ofearthy material. `n the bloating and annealing of blocks or units ofearthy material, difficulty has been experienced by reason of the factthat the blocks or slabs, after being bloated, must be subjected for aconsiderable period of time to an annealing operation, in order totoughen the bloated material and eliminate strains and stressestherefrom.

Where the material is fed from the bloating chamber and directly throughan annealing chamber in a longitudinal direction, this requires anannealing chamber' of appreciable length in order to maintain the blocksor slahs ot material at the annealing temperature throughout therequired period of time.

the method of the present invention is designed to obviate the necessityfor a l0n i tudinally extended annealing chamber, y employing a methodwhich results in the stacking up of the blocks or slahs of material inthe form of a vertical column which is progressively lowered through avertically arranged annealing chamber, thereby conserving space in thehandling of thematerial and also serving better to conserve the heatwhich is retained during the soaking stage of the annealing operation,thereby re sulting in a reduction in fuel cost, and in other advantageswhich will appear from, a detailed description of the present invention,in conjunction with the accompanyng drawin wherein,-

igure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional elevation of the bloating andannealing chamhers; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the an nealing chamher taken on line2-2 of Figure 1.

The granular material to be bloated is first subjected to a preheatingtreatment in a rotary kiln 10 at a temperature which will usu-.

ally run from 1500 F. to 1800 F., and which in all cases should be atemperature slightly below that at which the granular particles begin tot'use and adhere together. After the granular material has beenpreheated, it

is delivered in any suitable manner to a bloat ing chamber ll and spreadupon the hearth 1930. Serial no. 467395.

12 of the bloating chamber (by means which need not be described) in theform of a layer of uniform depth and dimensions.

Thereatter, the layer of material is suhr jected to a bloatingtemperature, which causes 55 ered into the soaking and cooling sectionot ne the furnace, which as shown comprises a well or pit 14: ofsuitable depth to permit the hloat ed slabs to be subjected to a seekingtemperaturethroughout a suficiently prolonged period ot time toeliminate strains or stresses 'Ze and toughen the material in prepartionfor the gradual cooling operation.

For certain clays 'from central and eastem lllinos, the hloatingzone-will he maintained at a temperature of approximately 2200 F., ?Yo

while the soaking temperature will he maintained at approximately 2000F. to 2050 F.,

which is a temperature intermediate the hloating temperature and thecongealing temperature, so that during the soaking stage ao of theOperations, the lolocks of material, while still in a slightly plasticcondition, will become annealed and toughened hy the elimination ofinternal strains or stresses before the temperature is reduced to thecongealee ing point. The temperatures given serve merely as anillustrative example and may he varied as conditions require.

The well or pit 14 may be of sucient depth i i to allow the slabs to befirstsoaked' 'for a sufeo ficient length of time and thereatter cooledduring the final stages of their descent through the pit, or it desiredthe pit can he of sufficient depth only to provide for the soakingoperation and cooling to the congealing point, and the slabs can heatterwards removed from the base of the pit and afterwards gradually'cooled in any suitable Inenner. As the slabs are delivered to the pit,

they may he progressively lowered in any After the bloating operationhas g@ the platform suitable manner, as for instance by the pro visionof vertically movable pairs of fingers 15, 16 and 17, which as shownare'arranged in series and are adapted to be thrust inwardly to engagethe sla'bs as they are successively discharged from the bloating chamberinto the annealing pit.

In arrangn for the dcscent of the first 'slab of bloate material, atemporary platform' or plunger may be moved upwardly in position. toengage-the slab as 'it is shoved inwardly along the hear-th, andthereaftcthe first slab will be lowered sufficiently to bring As thecolumn descendsin close proximity to the bottomof the-pit, the fingers15 will be moved inwardly to engage the slab next above the lowermostslab,'thus temporarily supportin the column'from the fingers 15,

after' whic the lowermost slab resting on the fingrs 16 may be movedfdownwardly from the column and deposited upon the lowermost fingers 17in preparation for a further lowering, which ultimately de 'sits 'theslab upon 'the rails 11 in preparaton for its removal by the action of apusher rod 19 Operating .through an aperture 20' in the base of the pt.v

The fingers may be easily inserted beneath the edges of therespeetiveblocks or sections, by reason of thefact that in bloating,each block or section will assume a rounding edge* configuration, whichwhen the' slabs are stacked up in column form will afl'ord in'eachinstance .an underlying groove or channel nto which the fingers may beinserted to the extent required to aflz'ord support for the overlyingcolumn.

It will, of course be understood that the use of fingers or the likeserves merely for purposes of illustration, and that any other suitableor convenient means may behemployed for progressively lowering a columnof slabs through the annealing pit b.y successive stages as the oncomingbloated slabs are delivered at the' top of the column.

By stacking the slabs in flatwise relation upon one another, the heatimparted during the bloating operation will be largely conserved andutilized during the soaking operation, although, if necessary,additional ex'- ternal heat may be imparted to the slabs while in thesoaking zone, in order to'maintain a soaking temperature above thecongealing point during the period of time required for the soakingoperation.

As before stated, a soaking temperature may be maintained 'in the upperportion of` the pit, which will thus constitute the soaking zone, whilethe lower portion-of the pit may be maintained at a progressivelycooling temperature, so that in 'such case the pit will combine thefunction of a soaking zone and a cooling zone, and ultimately deliverthe blocks in a sufiiciently cooled condition to permit of their beingeasily handled or trans ported.

The vertical arrangcment of the 'pit is' one which adapts it readily tothe maintenance of varying' temperatures, since a soaking zone of higher.temperature maybe readily maintained at the to of the pit by thenatural upflow of heate( air, while a progressively cooling temperaturemay be readly main tained at successive stages in the descent of thematerial through the pit. I v

The method of the present inve'ntion is one which enables the slabs orblocks of material to be easily handled within a rela-tivelysmallcompas's and obviates the necessity forthe utilization of-large areas offloor s ace for the aceommodation of elongated soaliing and coolingchambers. I claim:

1. The method of bloating and annealing blocks of earthy material, whichconsists in v subjectng a charge of granular material to a bloatingtemperature maintained in an elevated bloating zone to form a unitslabof bloated material, laterall moving the bloated slab away fromtheloatingzone to an annealing zone, and lowerin the slab through theannealing zone, and n superposing successive slabs incolumn `form`formovement through the annealing zone.

2. The method of bloatng and annealing I blocks of earthy material,which consists in sub ectng a charge of granular'material to a bloatingtemperature maintained in an elevated bloatin zone to form a unit slabof bloated material, laterally moving the bloated slab away from thebloating zone to an annealing zone, and lowering the slab th ou'gh theannealing zone, and insuperposir 'uccessive slabs in column form formovement through the annealing zone, and in successively lowering thelowermost slabs of the column below and away. from the column andremoving them from the annealing zone.

3. The method. of bloating and annealing blocks of earthy material,which consists in successively depositing unit layers of earthy materialwithin a bloating zone and subjecting them to a bloating temperature tocause fusion of the particles, and bloating and expansion in theformation of a block of cellular material, successively discharging theblocks by lateral movement from the bloating zone to a verticallyextending annealing zone, and progressively forming a column of blockswithin the annealing zone, and proportion of the ame 'sively coolingtemperature.

v 1,&

taining theupper portion of theennealn zone at a soeg tem o ture, andthe lower zone st a 4. The method of bloatin and :g blocks of earthymaterial, w ich consists in successively depositing unit layers ofeerthy material within a bloatng zone and subject ing them to a bloatingtemperature to cause fusion of' the particles, and bloating andexpansion in the formation of e block of cellular material, successivelydischargin the bl by lateral movement from the b oating zone to a.vertically extending annealing zone and progressively; formng a columnof block& the annealing zone and progressively lowerng the column and nmantainng the upyel portion of the ennealing zone at o soa g tem rature,andethe lower ortion of the annea g zone at a. rogressive y cool#- ingtemperature, and in suocewively releasing the lowermost 'bloeks from thecolumn after the desoent through the amealin zone and. laterallytransporting the re ease blocks.

-In witness that I claim the fore ing I have hereunto subscribed my name30th day of June, 1930. e e

OLIVEB W. STOREY..

